"We were kind of upset that we let them into it in Game 1, and let them think they had a chance against us," said Susie Boogaard, whose 16 kills and .387 hitting was the most consistent element of the UH attack. "We got mad. Not at each other. We never get mad at each other. But we just got mad at what happened and fired it up a little. It isn't double elimination."

The Rainbows' latest example of their resiliency catapulted them into a second-round match tonight, at 4 p.m. Hawai'i time, against Purdue. The Boilermakers (17-14), who finished sixth in the Big Ten, upset ninth-ranked Colorado State (26-4) in five games last night at Moby Arena. The Mountain West champions fell before a home crowd of 2,720.

Tonight's winner advances to a regional in Green Bay, Wis., next Friday and Saturday (Dec. 10-11).

At the first break, Hawai'i trailed 15-13 and Alicia Arnott, its most prolific hitter, had been stuffed three times by sub-6-foot CU setter Ashley Nu'u. The Rainbows couldn't rally because their block disappeared after the first 13 serves and Victoria Prince — their most imposing weapon, who is suffering from "flu-like symptoms" — didn't have a kill after the first 24.

CU, which lost its best attacker to injury a month ago, hit nearly .400. Almost hidden by its offensive frustration, UH was dismal defensively. It had just six digs in the game and finished with 47, its third-lowest total of the season; the other two came in sweeps.

Susie Boogaard

It hit worse, but blocked better in Game 2 and won going away. The serving of Teisa Fotu and Kelly Ong gave the 'Bows the winning gap in Game 3, with Boogaard burying seven kills. Kari Gregory, nursing a sore ankle, came on in the fourth game and gave the UH block the lift it needed to put away.

It ended the way the Rainbow Wahine always believe it will, with the Buffs (14-14) wondering what hit them, and why they couldn't hit a ball down inside the court. Particularly all-Big 12 junior Allie Griffin, who was terrorized by the UH block into .143 hitting.

"They got 16 blocks. We had 36 (hitting) errors," said CU coach, and Kamehameha graduate, Pi'i Aiu. "Twenty is a lot of unforced errors. I don't know if the block got in our head or not. We've been an error-prone team all year, but we preach aggressiveness so we'll just have to take the errors.

"They did exactly what we expected. A lot of times we knew when the ball was going where. But they do things real well. In volleyball, that's what it's all about. More than fooling your opponent, it's playing well."

Colorado was designated the visitor despite a road trip that consisted of 45 miles — about 3,300 fewer than the Rainbows. The effects of their travel were not obvious, helped in part by the fact that they have played their last six matches at altitudes of 4,500 feet and higher.

Last night, even without regular libero Ashley Watanabe, and with Arnott suffering through one of her worst matches, Hawai'i blew by the Buffs.

"To be honest, I don't think they are an overpowering team," Aiu said. "But they do a lot of things really, really well. To beat them, you have to out-play them. They aren't going to beat themselves. That's a hard team to beat."

No one has yet. The Rainbows go into tonight's match again without Watanabe, who broke her hand Tuesday, and with Prince and Gregory at about 85 percent, according to Shoji. Last night, Fotu couldn't match Watanabe's defensive spark, but she and Boogaard passed so well in the final three games that four hitters finished with at least 11 kills.

It was vintage Kanoe Kamana'o setting and vintage Hawai'i volleyball — circa 2004.